I’m still trying to figure out the purpose of that dumb Vanity Fair story about how the Duchess of Cambridge’s “golden era” is finally upon us. Seeing as how it was published two weeks into the Royal Sussex Tour, it did have a feel of “don’t forget about meeeee, I’m still so keeeeeeen.” And much like all of the other “planning to be keen” stories we’ve heard about Kate in the past seven years, I think we should not hold our collective breath to see if Kate is finally going to, like, do some stuff on a regular basis. Regular basis = five events a week, every week. As Vanity Fair explored, instead of just vague thoughts about how she’s planning to keen, the new narrative around Kate’s Keenness is that Kate is finally ready to act like she’s going to be queen-consort some day. Or something. Like, she’s keen to queen.
Unfortunately, in the Daily Mail’s coverage of the Vanity Fair story, they did their own interview with “celebrity stylist” Rochelle White, who made it sound like the transformation to “Golden Era Kate” is going to be completely superficial.
Celebrity stylist Rochelle White told FEMAIL Kate’s changing wardrobe is a sign she’s more ‘relaxed and confident’ than ever following years in the spotlight – in particular the ‘regal’ Alexander McQueen fishtail gown she wore to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace last week in honour of the Dutch royals: ‘I can’t say that this was one of my favourite looks,’ Rochelle said, ‘however she carries it off well. She has been “princess in training” for a while now, and now that Meghan has taken over the role, she is really starting to embrace her changing position. She looks relaxed and confident rocking this style of dress, which is very princess-esque, and shows of her silhouette post-baby.’
Rochelle said Kate is taking risks with colours and cuts – as with the relatively daring tweed Erdem dress and deep plum heels she wore to open a photography exhibit at the V&A on October 10th – that are a clear sign of her ‘stepping up her fashion game’.
‘She’s known for wearing nudes and natural tones,’ the stylist said, ‘so it’s nice to see her experimenting with shades we aren’t used to seeing her in.’
But for Rochelle, the look that revealed most about Kate’s new confidence was the one chosen for her first post-maternity leave appearance on October 2nd, a visit to Sayers Croft Forest School in Paddington. A glowing Kate swapped her once-signature voluminous blow-dry for more relaxed waves, teamed with a pair of £30 Zara jeans and a £175 khaki jacket from trendy Swedish outdoor brand Fjällräven.
‘I feel that is true style and more about her and her personality,’ Rochelle said. ‘Kate is settled in her role and feels confident enough wearing the styles and looks that suit her. After years of properly trying to find her feet, and post three babies, she’s in a place where she knows what works.’
It feels like stylists are falling all over themselves to give Kate a cookie for just not looking like ten kinds of pukey/floral/doily/button-slathered hell. That’s no surprise, I guess, because they’ve always done that, they’ve always hyped Kate as this grand fashionista, when she’s really not. I’ll give her some credit: her fashion choices from this autumn have been okay-to-good, and I’m thankful for that even as I acknowledge that Kate constantly benefits from the bar being set really low for her.
As for the idea that Kate has finally NOW come into her own – as a woman and a fashionista – it’s just more of the same. All of the things she WILL do, eventually, like be a fashionista or be keen, or be a hard-working royal. I also think it’s sort of funny that with the Vanity Fair article and this Daily Mail riff on the VF article, the subtext is that… Kate has NOT been regal or fashion-forward or interesting for the past seven to seventeen years.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Is this outright patronising or subtweet level shade?
There’s no way to spin this as a compliment towards Kate.
‘Now that she’s been married for seven years and tangentially involved for ten more on top of that, she can finally start getting into the swing of things since Meghan is passing milestones at warp speed.’
‘No, wait, strike that, we actually meant she’s going to mildly tinker with her wardrobe.’
word.
I say outright patronizing.
I would love to tell Kate that skin tight clothes are not attractive.
Gotta agree…those green pants make me sad.
She should give a look towards Queen Rania and Sheikha Mozah. They are incredibly chic and manage to look years younger than Kate in those horrifying jeggings and sausage curls.
Sheikha Mozah’s clothes are always fabulous!
Mozah and Rania are full of plAstic and as dictators wives their budgets are at a whole different level.
The Kardashians are full of plastic and they don’t look anywhere near as good as Rania.
I read somewhere that Queen Rania spends twice as much on her clothing as Kate Middleton does. Out of all of the royal ladies (though I suppose she counts as a First Lady, as well), she spends the most. It’s illegal to criticize her husband in the media (it’s a punishable offence in Jordan), so, I feel that’s somewhat of a good indication that she can spend whatever she wants!
I know both Rania and Mozah aren’t queens in democratic countries, I was just point ou how chic they look. Queen Mozah’s husband actually owns Valentino, for exemple, which can make your life very easy, as well as expending all you want without being criticized.
Kate could look chic as well with way less money, she just don’t have style.
That’s not quite true. There is plenty of criticism of the royal family in Jordan. I lived there 2016-2017 and I used to love reading these bitchy local blogs about all the shenanigans of the royal family (most of it is historical). There is a LOT of criticism over Rania’s expensive wardrobe. The constitution allows for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, although this is not always respected, it is true. It is illegal to insult the King so people are just very careful about how they say things. This law is enforced very unevenly.
Technically it is supposed to be a constitutional monarchy, and is one of the “freest” Arab countries. It is seen as more of an authoritarian monarchy by the West though. At the time of the Arab Spring there was a big push for reform and they have reformed in some ways and loosened up a bit. The King and his government, however, are extremely paranoid about the islamisists (understandably so considering what’s been happening in the neighbourhood) and do not want to loosen the reigns too much and give them a foothold. Yes this smacks of an excuse to maintain power (that is abused at times), but it also has some proven validity. They don’t want extremist religious groups gaining much political power in the country. Jordan walks a very fine line maintaining peaceful relations with all of its neighbours as best it can (Israel, Saudi, Egypt, Syria, Iraq…) and also with its international allies including the USA and UK.
As for Rania… I almost met her! My colleague did and said she was the most beautiful woman he’d seen in the flesh. Undoubtedly she’s had some “maintenance” work but it’s good work. She is, as I said above, critiqued for profligacy in regards to her wardrobe, her birthday party extravaganza, etc. Howrver she also does a tonne of good works and is always busy. She is an excellent ambassador for the country and for the women of the region. She is a work horse and she has started and supports some incredible programs. So I guess her spending is less of an issue as a result. Something Kate ought to consider.
I don’t like wearing clothes that tight, but Kate’s skinny jeans or jeggings would look wrong if they were loose and baggy. Her pants are supposed to be that tight, and she has the perfect legs for them
Kate has access to top designers.
There really isn’t any need for clothes to be glued on her.
@ Beth :
Sorry, but nobody has to have pants glued on. It looks terrible.
Kate has been in the spotlight for many years and had plenty of time, resources and help, if she wanted to find a few pairs of nice pants.
Even Meghan, pregnant with skinny legs and on her first major Royal Tour, married not even a year managed to wear a nice pair of jeans that don’t look like she needs the JAWS OF LIFE to take her pants off.
I’m tall, skinny and have legs coming out of my armpits and I don’t wear loose jeans or painted on jeans, there is a middle.
I’m pretty sure that KATE has a lot more options than me when it come to fashion.
She is just an awful dresser, manages to look immature and dowdy at the same time.
No, there is no need and it certainly doesn’t look attractive to wear painted on pants.
Regardless who you are and especially when you are in the spotlight, being photographed.
It looks tacky, but Kate often looks tacky.
I’m tall and thin with very long legs and I wear pants that gently hug my legs without looking like they are spray painted on.
She has many, many options and a much bigger budget than most to choose from.
I don’t understand the obsession with her pants and the cut of them. They’re not so tight that they’re showing anything they shouldn’t. They’re not see-through. They’re tight, yes. But I think the jaws of life comments are a bit much. There’s a lot of “SHE HAS ACCESS TO STYLISTS AND TAILORS!” going on – which wouldn’t be such an issue if people didn’t continually excuse Meghan’s dragging pant legs and sometimes bad tailoring.
But at the same time – I don’t understand the point of policing her pants to the degree that is happening. Are legs on a woman a dirty thing? Is it too much for the children to see? She was walking through a zoo, she wasn’t at a late night gala presenting something. Are they tighter than I’d have chosen? Sure. But I don’t think there’s something horribly garish about them. Nor will I ever understand the obsession with wide leg pants that a lot of people have.
Beyond that – does Rania not live in a country that expects a dress code to be followed? I’ve seen her wearing cropped leggings with a tunic that looked like it had another skirt under it which really isn’t some fashion forward posh look. Sheikha Mozah is in Qatar- which is very much for modesty. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way – I think women should be able to choose what they want to wear regardless of how modest or how provocative. I just don’t think that somehow wearing tighter clothing makes someone ‘less than’ someone who is dressing much more modestly.
Agreed Erinn, well said. I am wearing skinny jeans and a blazer at work right now, as I do most days.
LOL Jane!
My mom always joked that she had legs up to her armpits, until someone pointed at her breasts and said ‘I suppose those are your knees’…
Umm, nobody gave meghan a free pass for the pants hanging on the ground or the tag still on the dress. Just sayin.
@Jane jaws of life is the comment of the day.
Omg, thank you!! It has been bothering me too, and I think my problem is–she wears the skinny skinny pants without wearing a longer top. Like, all over tight is a bit much. Even the blazer the other day was super-fitted.
I don’t mind the pants/jeans, but I think overall Kate has a problem with proportions – like she doesn’t quite know how to balance an outfit. So its why often her shoes don’t quite work, or the hair doesn’t go with a necklace, stuff like that. I don’t think she has an eye for balance/proportions. (which is where a stylist would help.)
Again I think the above outfit is terrible – too tight pants, too short top (why is her bare belly peaking out?) and the blazer looked too small too. I think it’s all about showing off how thin she is again and that is sad because she looked really good with the baby weight. The coatdresses she wore post Louis may be conventional but I thought they looked smart and appropriate. They are a good, professional look for her. Even the dresses she wore to Wimbleton were really nice. She can get it right but her vanity about her thin figure drives her to make inappropriate choices imo.
@Becks1-YES! She doesn’t know about proportion. She seems to want to hide the fact that she’s got a long torso, so she favours waists that are cut just above her natural waist. However, that one inch up makes a classic cut look girlish. It’s the same with some of her hemlines in the past. Instead of following Diana’s style, she should follow her example by going to Vogue and getting a proper stylist.
Oh, please try to have a sense of humor, this is a gossip site, jaws of life is funny, because Kate often dresses in very tight clothes that don’t look nice on her and almost looks a bit desperate.
I’m sorry, but Kate doesn’t have a good fashion sense.
I think that Meghan dresses better, even though she could use a tailor here and there and wear more appropriate shoes to sporting events.
Yes, Kate is not showing anything, but if I would be her, I would dress much better than this glued on pair of pants to take even the garbage out, if pics are being taken.
We are not trying to cure cancer here, but common Kate had many years being in the harsh spotlight and she still can’t get even a simple pair of pants right…
I agree. I don’t wear super skinny jeans because I’m a woman of a certain age and a certain weight. Kate has a slim athletic body and still, her legs look incredibly unflattering in them. Maybe it’s just these jeans. It’s too tight.
She has a very fit figure, but something about her proportions are always puzzling to me when she wears very tight pants. I don’t know if she needs more volume up top to balance things, or longer jackets, but she always looks sort of awkward.
The skin tight pants look terrible on her,she does them way too much.
When Kate & William first got married, everyone was all over her fashion, saying she was amazing. She was so hyped up even though it really wasn’t that great. Clothes that she wore would sell out straight away.
Now the exact same thing is happening with Meghan.
I know right….
I feel it with Meghan, though. She’s got an eye. The Kate coverage always felt like manufactured hype to me.
An eye? That’s overselling it. Meghan hasn’t broken any barriers with her fashion; most of the time her clothes look like they need a good tailor. She wears neutral colors and trench coats. It’s not a fashion breakthrough or the sign of having a great fashion eye.
I don’t see why any member of the BRF should have a ” fashion breakthrough “.
That’s exactly they should not be doing, their job is not to be a FASHIONISTA.
If that’s what people are looking for than please look to actors and models.
BRF needs to dress in appropriate for the event, good quality CLASSIC pieces that are well made, modest without flashing their bits to the world and hopefully from the Commonwealth countries.
I think Kate dresses immature and dowdy at the same time. Painted on jeggings, hoof like 4 inch solid heel wedges, cheap looking shoes, fly away skirts, coat dresses like a 50 year old and too tight clothes more often than not.
Meghan could use a tailor for the pants she often drags on the ground, the real world is not a runway, so it looks sloppy compared to the runway.
Her shoe choices have really improved on this Royal Tour, because she included Espadrilles, flat sandals, sneakers and ballet flats.
Overall, I like Meg’s more classic approach to clothes, I love the navy, black, teal, white and I’m not big fan of color, but that colorful dress (without the pom-pomps) would have been very nice in Fiji.
Most of her clothes were already sold out by the time she wore them because they were styles from the previous season. So much was bespoke, which the buying public didn’t have access to anyway.
She’s only now stopping being princess-in-training? After 7 years? It takes 7 years to qualify as a doctor, come on. The piss is being taken.
Exactly. It took me 8 years to become a chiro (4 yrs college + 4 yrs chiro school) and a few years in practice before I felt truly comfortable with my patients. Spare me 7 years to glad hand and appear interested in her charities and surroundings.
Always pitting women against women i wish we can all ignore DM and their offensive articles all the time
Yes, thank you.
Very true, they always have an agenda – anti-women, anti-minorities etc.
Good observation, I agree.
Agreed – the Daily Fail is always garbage.
Agreed
I like Kate’s clothes. I would love to have her wardrobe *shrug*
I think Kate looks best in timeless items. Basic works best for her.
So would I, both of these women are beautiful and have great style. They do have DIFFERENT style though and thank God because how boring it would be if we all looked/dressed the same.
Agree, well said. Interesting how the press pit woman again each other. Never see this happening with men
I know, I don’t like everything in her wardrobe (everything that has a Peter Pan collar, the pointy shoulder, and the million buttons) but most of the time I think she looks fine. Maybe not exciting but she’s not trying to be some edgy New York City fashionista (I live in NYC so I see all kinds of fashion styles all across the board. Yesterday was Halloween so it was even more wild than usual). Everyone rags on her for the skinny jeans and how they look terrible–rag on me too I guess. All my jeans are skinnies–I don’t know if I can ever go back to the flared look. I like my jeans tucked into my boots, not over them, and I can’t do that with jeans in different styles. I’m about her height and her build too. Oh well, I guess my fashion is terrible too.
It’s not that they are skinnies. (I’m sure most of us have some.) it’s that hers are WAY too tight.
I can tell you exactly where her vests lateralis starts.
Yes, that is too tight.
I’d say the distinction here is that you are not a Senior Royal on official business, or you don’t work for a conservative company (I’m assuming that). Kate can and should wear her tight pants off-duty, but for an official appearance they look vulgar and screaming for attention. She’s the one making this all about her physical appearance by doing this. She COULD change the narrative quite easily if she wanted to.
I think she’s found what works for her.
Agree, although I couldn’t do it justice! i think she looks fine, tight pants and all.
“Planning to keen” is possibly the greatest thing I have ever read.
‘keen to queen’ is great too
K needs some Yoda coaching, as one commenter pointed out about Gigi Hadid ‘trying to eat hamburgers’ : )
I like that woman’s colorful patterned coat more than I like Kate’s plain blue dress.
I like that coat, too. In fact, I like it more than anything I have seen Kate or Meghan wear In the last few weeks.
Kate is super basic. I don’t think of her as having any particular sense of style. But then again, my idea of a stylish woman is Tilda Swinton, Lisa Bonet, Allison Mossheart.
That’s literally the only thing people have to go on though. Beyond some sartorial experimenting and dressing a little grander, there’s nothing substantial to indicate that she’s actually becoming more “regal”. It’s been the same old song and dance as usual.
Same as it ever was.
The fact she is still known for her clothes after 7 years is quite sad,
Those PR articles make her more and more dumb. Bad PR IMO
I don’t mind those moto jeans but I am laughing at how that outfit is being used as an example of Kate finding her way from a fashion perspective. We’ve seen her wear basically that exact outfit for years now. It’s her “outdoorsy with children but not sports” outfit.
Aren’t these kinds of articles pretty typical for this time of year though? I feel like we get a slew of articles (maybe usually January, but sometimes earlier) about how Kate is keen, she’s ready to step it up, she’s really finding her way, she’s coming into her own, etc.
Its the kind of thing where it’s like….stop telling us she is ready to step it up. Show us her stepping it up.
Nothing has changed in her style in the last few years and well before meghan was even dating Harry. These articles are nonsense. She’s been doing the costdress thing forever and her casual jeggings and boots for sporty events has been the same since the beginning. They really have nothing new to say about her because she just doesn’t do that much.
I totally agree with you but I think the big issue is, she has no intention of really changing or actually stepping it up.
Oh and I will say, because I am a nice person (lol) that I have liked Kate’s looks “overall” over the past month. Sometimes I find them a bit boring, but we haven’t seen any coat dresses, we haven’t seen tooooooo many buttons (minus the tweed dress but we’ll give her some buttons, ha), etc. I think if she steps away more from the coat dresses and keeps up her appearances I wont have anything to criticize 😉
I really think Kate just isn’t particularly interested in fashion, which is completely fine? I think it’s the press trying to make her out as some trend-setting fashionista, not Kate herself. She seems to like a more “uniform” style of dressing – nude pumps, tailored dresses with puffed sleeves, etc. which makes sense to me. I also prefer to wear slightly different versions of the same thing. And also, fashion and style are COMPLETELY subjective. Different people like different things and one person doesn’t get to decide what is or isn’t fashionable for the entire world. Everyone has opinions on style, but that’s all they are – opinions. No one is right and no one is wrong.
Totally agree!
I like your take on this. You’re absolutely right–no one person decides yay or nay on what is fashionable. One person’s pig tails and ruffled tutu’s are another person’s tweed buttons.
For one who isn’t interested in fashion she spends fortune. She rarely re-wears something and she rarely re-combines things. For somebody who isn’t interested in fashion she wears high high heels and has her hair done professionally and it looks like the extensions are back in full force again.
And buttons!
Yep, she is interested in fashion. She just has a very limited idea of style and she never tries to make a statement.
I suppose what I meant by “not particularly interested in fashion” was that she’s not particularly interested in following/setting trends or shaking things up. She generally wears the same silhouettes, the same style and colour of shoes, and the same hairstyles. She’s found a style that she likes and she’s sticking to it, for the most part. You can care about your appearance without being overly invested in following fashion. I don’t think that wearing expensive clothes, repeating things infrequently, and having her hair styled professionally imply that she’s very interested in fashion. They seem to be things that mostly come with being a highly visible member of the royal family. But that’s just my take on it, and as nobody here personally knows Kate, we’re all just speculating anyway 😛
I also think she’s intetested in fashion. She just likes to be safe. People are saying the same thing about Meghan,that she’s doesn’t want to draw attention to her clothes. But in reality she’s outdoing Kate with her spending habits. And I still don’t see any recycled look,except for two or three dresses always combined with new expensive accessories or coats. At least Kate used to recycle more often,and she still rewears some bespoke dresses.
@VI Can you give her a minute? She’s only been married in a few months and is still building a working wardrobe, yes some of the clothes are expensive and if she is still highly spending in say 2/3 years and not repeating THEN it’s fair to start calling her out.
Stop putting Kate up against her, Kate who has had time to repeat clothes and find her way. Meghan is out working (well their definition of work) and so far she doing a good job, please give her time.
@Bohemian Angel I doubt we’ll see all the bespoke designer clothes that have been altered to accomodate her pregnancy and that could have been mixed and recycled during the tour,and I doubt she will repeat those Givenchy and Dior looks that we saw at some family events.
I just think she has spent a lot of money in a very short period for things that were not worth those price tags or for events that didn’t require new bespoke designer looks. She wore some very nice dresses before her wedding that she could have recycled for some low-profile engagements before the tour. During the tour I don’t understand why she needeed to wear in the same morning two very expensive bespoke dresses that looked almost identical in some pics and that were worn for half an hour. How many navy dresses or £1,500 nude purses she needs for her working wardrobe? Above all when these dresses have already been altered.
@VI Her clothes can be altered after she has the baby as well. And yes she has spent a lot of money on similar items but why don’t you just give her a chance and we will see what gets repeated instead of speculating that most of these clothes will just get thrown to the back of her closet. As I said if after 2 years she is still spending and not repeating I will see your point. However, BOTH women have spent an obscene amount of money on clothes and in these times it doesn’t look good but if Meghan’s been given an allowance to build up her wardrobe then so be it, but she should have time and the benefit of the doubt right now. Time will tell.
@VI: You’re wrong here. It may *seem* like Meghan spends more because the press publishes the prices of nearly everything she wears. Kate buys a ton of bespoke McQueen, Wickstead, Packham, etc. — but mostly McQueen — and the price isn’t known but you can bet it’s as much as or more than anything Meghan wears.
Kate is savvy in that way. She knows what she’s doing. She knows the DM can’t put a price on a “custom” piece. How much do you think that hideous blue prom dress she wore to the state dinner last week cost? That’s one that she will likely never rewear and it was at least £10,000.
So please know some facts before criticizing Meghan’s spending.
There are some wacky totals out there for this tour and many include things like jewelry, which they never do for Kate’s totals. And she wore a dress from 2017 before she was engaged so she is repeating with clothes she’s paid for herself. I know the daily mail doesn’t care about being accurate because they have a narrative they are pursuing but if people actually want to be fair, they should wait until she has been in the BRF a few years and then see what the spending is like.
@Lorelei
“and it was at least £10,000”
Where is your proof that the dress cost at least £10,000? Has McQueen/ Burton confirmed the price?
“Kate buys a ton of bespoke McQueen, Wickstead, Packham, etc. — but mostly McQueen — and the price isn’t known but you can bet it’s as much as or more than anything Meghan wears”
You do realise that Meghan has already worn a TON of bespoke Givenchy not to mention bespoke Carolina Herrera, Dior and others in the first 5 MONTHS of royal life. At least Kate wore a lot of High St clothes in the first year.
Ladie, I think your thoughts make sense. I think Kate is trying to emulate the Queen by wearing a work uniform for her professional life. She isn’t following trends as much as just picking a style and sticking with it. I believe she hopes it will make her seem more “timeless” in the sense that her look will be consistent from year to year and so not encapsulated in a specific time/year.
I think she also does this with the children when the are present for “work” functions. George wears shorts and tall socks and Charlotte wears the very same dress style + cardigan combo.
Totally agree!
Kate happened because no already-royal or already-superrich woman would deal with what William brings to the table. (Also I don’t think Diana would have let Carol Middleton near her son.) So they’ve had to spend years trying to get Kate to participate, but she’s just not a natural.
She has to step up her game somehow, as does Will – time is marching on and Will will be Prince of Wales soon – they need some gravitas. Stop promoring articles about clothes.
“Kate happened because no already-royal or already-superrich woman would deal with what William brings to the table.”
Good point.
If Kate were doing more than wearing nice clothes, people would be talking about that instead. But she’s not doing more, so there’s nothing to comment on other than her wardrobe. If she were actively charitable, aside from the bare minimum appearances, we would have some substance. Sadly, we do not, so here we are.
True, but I’d venture that headlines would focus on her outfits regardless. Editors assume female readers are super interested in clothes.
Please let me be remembered for more than wearing a burgundy sash.
+1
Considering she has worn a combo of skinnies and blazers multiple times a year for seven years AND the fact that the blue dress yesterday was a recycle from her Canadian tour, this article is ludicrous. Her style hasn’t changed at all. I personally hope she doesn’t take style tips from Never-Properly-Tailored Meg, either. They both need real stylists.
Thank you!
Has anyone else noticed how every article about Kate in the DM starts with, “caring Kate…” ; “loving Kate…” etc. Articles about Meghan never start with such kind (albeit fake) works. They are really trying to sell Kate at Meghan’s expense and it’s pathetic.
The DM is really atrocious in trying to stir up hatred against Meghan.
Kate is obviously a beautiful woman, and I’m so glad that she is now (finally?) feeling keen about her place in the royal family. One thing I wish she would change however, is the way she glues both hands to her clutch. She truly clutches her clutch and it always looks so weird and uncomfortable to me. Was this part of her princess training that she took to an extreme? Is she just trying to protect herself from having a free hand that could be grabbed? Does anyone besides me care?
I think Kate is not a natural at gladhanding or public engagements. Having something in one’s hands might just be security.
Other than their oversea tours, none of the younger royals do 5 events a week when they’re at home in the UK. Not William, not Kate, not Harry, and Meghan hasn’t either.
The only time the younger royals do many engagements a week is when they are on tour, and this is helped by the mini events they attend that can sometimes only last for 15 mins.
That’s true. And just because we see a picture, doesn’t mean they spend more then an hour at all of these events.
Even if they would do more, what would Charles think? Would they overshadow him? The future king? The next diana situation? Ooh the drama 😉
This. I think some people like to overhype what shouldn’t be overhyped,and talk about work ethic when I still don’t see any evidence. Like, William has already done 200 engagements this year. Has the hard-working Harry ever achieved the same numbers? I bet William will be always the lazy one,even if he’s stepping up. And we’re still talking about engagements that in many case require very little efforts.
Actually Harry did over 200 engagements last year whereas William only did 171. And this is quoted in the Vanity Fair article about Charles.
William is the future king and he needs to step up more than Harry. He is going to inherit the Duchy of Cornwall and get millions to himself whereas Harry will not.
Yesterday was the first time I saw more emphasis on what she was doing (i.e. learning how her great grandfathers died in WWI) than what she was wearing. Small steps.
I can relate to her wanting to know more about her family history. I have ties to both World Wars on both sides of my family. One of my great-grandfathers crossed paths with Marshall Petain, head of the Vichy government in France. Petain was his instructor in military school which totally floored me when I found out. Yes, Petain was a Nazi collaborator and convicted for treason but I was still pretty stunned to find out anyone I was related to had been associated with him. My family connections go way deeper than that and I won’t go into it all but learning about your family history, especially when it involves major historical events, is always so fascinating.
Amen. Although, I can think of at least one time a friend wasn’t so happy to learn. His grandfather was a Nazi army doctor killed at Stalingrad. My friend firmly believed that grandpa had been conscripted into the army against his will because of his medical knowledge. He had his grandfather’s war letters and was so excited to get them translated. Once translated, he was heartbroken. Turns out Gramps wasn’t conscripted against his will. He was a Nazi through and through.
And even then, there was a lot of complaints about it. It wasn’t publicized enough – if it had been, we’d be hearing it was publicized too much. It was selfish of her to want to learn more. Etc etc. I think in a lot of ways she’s damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t. And of course some of that is her own doing, but here we are.
And my goodness, that’s a shame for your friend, Mich. I can’t imagine how heartbreaking that must have been.
Nope, Kate doesn’t step up her fashion game. Same old same old.
I think I actually own those green skinny jeans she’s wearing in the last picture… Well, perhaps I have a much less expensive version LOL. I love them. They flatter just about everyone.
They’re from Zara, so you might have them 🙂
Her jeans are always too tight.
Just always.
I’d rather see her step up her work. Practice giving speeches, get ACTIVELY involved with more issues that are important to make this a better world. She just doesn’t strike me as someone who is all that interested in things of substance. Really in this day and age, shouldn’t we be more interested in a woman’s brain rather than her appearance or what she is wearing? This is why I think Meghan is so refreshing – she has something to say and she’s intelligent and engaged.
According to Ingrid Seward apparently just looking pretty is sufficient.
The first thing that I would change with Kate would be her posture. It is horrible. The pic in the blue dress shows how bad it is. If she doesn’t correct it….it will just continue to get worse.
In her defence, I have often wondered if it is due to her height, I’m 5ft10 and was bullied from age 13 because of my height. I know I stoop and have terrible posture – stemming from my own insecurities about being so tall. My husband at 6ft5 also stoops. We have to constantly remember ‘shoulder back, spine straight, chin up’…
Is it just me or it is the clothes, but she looks hyper skinny suddenly?
So what if she’s skinny? Skinny or large does not mean someone is unhealthy.
Every now & again some people like to bring up Kate’s weight & imply that she’s unhealthy, but yet she keeps giving birth to whopping 8 pound babies!
Exactly. Who cares if she’s skinny, she’s been this way for years and it is obviously how she prefers to look. People really need to stop policing this woman’s body.
Kaiser,
You truly made a turd of a day good with ‘keen to queen’!
She’s a beautiful woman with a gorgeous figure and wealthy to boot. An easy target for some. Sad!
“It feels like stylists are falling all over themselves to give Kate a cookie for just not looking like ten kinds of pukey/floral/doily/button-slathered hell. That’s no surprise, I guess, because they’ve always done that, they’ve always hyped Kate as this grand fashionista, when she’s really not.”
Whether anyone likes it or not, Kate is a bona fide fashion influencer and lots of people appreciate her style. Perhaps maybe not her too-tight pants; I’ll give you that because I don’t understand those either. But, her overall style, especially formal and dresses/hats is elegant, neat and picture-perfect, even when others call her a snooze. Kate inadvertently created an entire industry trend of nude patent leather pumps! I know I keep going back to that sometimes, but it was really something in the midst of it all. I walked into a department store after she began wearing her LK Bennett’s for a while, and there was an entire section of nude patent leather varieties.
Just saying that there are still good things about her fashion and that the influence is far and wide. No one is perfect. Kate needed hem weights for a long time and her informal pants are strangely too tight. Meghan’s messy bun was the WORST and I don’t understand how a royal would stand around with her hands in her pockets.
But they both have alot to contribute and they are both fashionistas in their own ways.
Keen-ista…Queen consort-ista..
Have to work on this a bit 😉
I like her latest look.
It’s fabulous-ista.
I like Kate’s style, even if boring at times and she has the height to pull off anything. Meghan looks a bit sloppy at times, but she’s still new to this game so let’s wait and see. However, she is very petite and her stylist needs to understand that dresses made for taller women like the Oscar de la Renta dress don’t do her any favor.
I absolutely adore the Duchess of Cambridge style. And I think she is looking particularly lovely at the moment. I’m not even going to compare her to the Duchess of Sussex, I think its cruel and mean. Both women deserve better than that. They are unique and gorgeous in their own right and this constant comparing is getting a bit weary. That said, I found the Duchess of Sussex’s wardrobe tour went on for a bit long and started getting a bit boring at the end due to media over exposure (not her and Prince Harry personally)